AFTER failing to come up with a lease agreement, the Cebu City Government will return the building occupied by its satellite office to its owner, the Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD).
MCWD Chairman Jose Daluz III said he had a talk with Acting Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia and both agreed that the property should be returned to the MCWD.
It has been almost a year since the City Hall occupied the building located across the City Hall without a final lease agreement.
“I talked to Mayor Raymond and they will return the property to us,” said Daluz in a message on Sunday, June 9, 2024
Daluz said lawyers of both camps are currently negotiating the return.
He hopes the negotiations will finish before Mayor Michael Rama will return from serving a six-month preventive suspension order.
According to the City’s Public Information Office Facebook page, the City moved in the building on July 21, 2023 and became the home of offices under the executive department that were located in the legislative building but are not policy-determining offices like the Division for the Welfare of the Urban Poor and the City Hospitalization Assistance Management Program, among others.
In previous reports, suspended City Administrator Collin Rosell said the City was able to occupy the building as both parties had come up with an arrangement and “it was agreed in principle.”
Despite failing to agree on lease rates, Daluz had said the water district “tolerated” the City’s stay without paying any rent.
On May 26, 2023, the MCWD sent a lease contract to the Office of the Mayor. The water district’s board passed a resolution that set the monthly rent at P700,000, and allowed the MCWD general manager to negotiate with the City.
MCWD, in previous statement, said it made three written follow-ups to the City dated June 2, June 13 and June 23.
MCWD said the City responded on July 5 with lawyers Luigine Christi Chan and Lyndon Bernardo Basan stating that “the terms and conditions in the draft contract of Lease are in accordance with the law, morals, public policy and good customs.”
However, MCWD said it received an email from the mayor’s office on July 24 containing the City’s counterproposal of a P200,000 rental rate made through lawyer John Michael Lequigan.
Daluz earlier said there were ongoing talks up to last December to come up with an agreement on lease rates, deposits and other lease terms, but to no avail.
Last February, Daluz said the MCWD decided to bid out the building as negotiating with the City was futile, considering they could not agree on lease rates, deposits and other lease terms.
The MCWD would have earned more than P7 million by now had the City agreed to pay the P700,000 rent.
Last February, Daluz said management was preparing to bid out the two-story building to a leasing company, adding that several businesses had shown interest to rent the space, including a coffee shop, a retail store and government office.
The last time a retail store rented the building, the monthly lease was around P400,000.
Daluz said on Sunday they have yet to start the bidding as they await the result of the negotiation. / JJL